Daddy Bats And Baby Birds
by ttfan111robstar1
Summary: Robin is hit by a laser by Slade, and it de-ages him. With a five year old Robin who can't speak much English, the team calls for reinforcements- Batman. The Dark Knight will bond with his son while the Titans work to bring Slade down.
1. Daddy Bats And Baby Birds

**Author's note: I'm on a roll with the bat family. This will be multi-chapter. I cannot guarantee when I will update next, but it will be soon. I had a lot of fun with this. I hope you guys do too! Enjoy!**

A low chuckle echoed through a warehouse in Jump City.

Slade, mortal enemy of Robin and in general the Teen Titans, Laughed low. Robin sneered at hearing that laugh. That laugh haunted his dreams, terrorized his nightmares. When he heard that laugh, he knew there was trouble, and serious plans afoot.

"Robin. You think you can defeat me?"

"I've done it before. And we can do it again."

"Did you honestly think I would leave that to chance?"

"No. But I never did."

"Poor child. You don't know what awaits you."

"I'm not a child." He shot back.

Even with the mask, they could tell he was smiling.

"You soon will be."

Slade pulled out a laser. He aimed it at Robin, who dodged easily. Robin threw a freeze disc at him, and Slade dodged it, though it meant that a cog that had been turning was now frozen solid. Cyborg tried to blast him with his sonic cannon, but Slade dodged that too. Raven attempted to slam him with a metal pole, but he jumped, leapt on top of it, used it as leverage to get higher up, to where there was some shelter from blasts. Starfire barraged him with Starbolts, and even made a few hits, but it wasn't enough to stop him.

Robin used his friend's attacks to leap up to where Slade was. He flipped on top of a railing, and landed on his feet, but that was enough time for Slade to strike. He landed a good kick to the stomach, then aimed the laser at him, and fired. Instantly, Robin was knocked out.

Slade grinned behind the ask, then took a chance, and disappeared down into smoke left behind from Starfire's starbolts.

It was Starfire who came to get Robin. She carried him down to the other Titans. When she landed though, she was in for a surprise.

Robin was shrinking. His suit was shrinking with him thankfully, but she felt alarm rise in her.

She was quick to go with Raven to the tower, while the others went in the car. Starfire whisked him to the medical bay, and Raven ran some tests with her powers. Cyborg and Beast Boy joined them shortly after.

"The laser didn't have any physical damage on him. But I can't get into his mind right now to see what's happening. It's changing too fast." Raven said.

"Please, will Robin be the "okay"?" Starfire questioned.

"He will be. Once we get that laser from Slade and reverse it's effects." Said Cyborg.

"So… What do we do in the meantime?" Asked Beast Boy.

"Not much we can do but wait and see what happens, BB." Said Cyborg.

And wait they did. They all gathered at Robin's bedside and kept vigil over the young hero. It took about an hour before he finally stirred. His eyes opened, and finally, he sat up and looked around.

"tată?" He asked, looking around.

"Um… What?" Asked Beast Boy.

"That's Romanian." Raven said. "He said "Dad"."

Robin seemed to take notice of them now. "Cine ești tu?"

"He's asking who we are." Raven said, and decided it would be her job to translate. She turned to him. "Numele meu este Raven. Acesta este Beast Boy, Starfire și Cyborg. Noi suntem prieteni."

They each heard their names and waved respectively at him. Raven murmured, "I told them our names and that we are friends."

"Prieteni?" Asked Robin. They all nodded, able to understand enough to know that that meant friends. Robin looked around again. "Unde e tatăl meu?"

"He's asking where his dad is." Raven said. Then she looked at him. "Cine este taticul tau?"

"Numele lui este…" Robin began to say what his name was, but he stopped. Daddy didn't like others knowing his secret identity. "Este Batman."

"He said Batman is his dad." Raven clarified.

"Ha! Dude, I always knew they were related!" Beast Boy cheered.

Cyborg and Raven both glared at him, but it was Cyborg who spoke. "Really not the time for that, BB."

"Sorry." Beast Boy said, sheepish for once.

"Guess we better give Batman a call." Said Cyborg. "I'll work on that now."

Raven nodded. "Vom găsi tatăl tău." She said to Robin, promising to find his father.

The small child nodded.

"vorbesti engleza?" That was Starfire, asking if he could speak english. Raven had forgotten that through lip contact, Tameranians could learn languages. When she kissed Robin when they first met, it must have transferred the Romanian too. She wondered why Starfire hadn't spoken up until now. Perhaps it was the shock of it all.

"Engleză este greu. Încă mai învăț." Said Robin. Raven translated for Beast Boy that English was hard, and he was still learning it.

The two girls nodded to each other.

Then: "cati ani ai?" Asked Starfire.

"Am cinci ani." Robin replied.

"He's five." Said Raven to Beast Boy.

Beast Boy nodded. And the two women and changeling stayed there with him, occasionally talking to him.

Meanwhile, Cyborg busied himself with contacting the World's Greatest Detective. It took him a while, but he was finally able to contact the Dark Knight. It was very fortunate for the Half-Robotic man that the Caped Crusader was able to answer in the middle of the day.

The cowled face of Batman filled the Monitor Screen.

"Batman?"

"Yes?" The voice was a growl, a raspy tenor.

"My name is Cyborg. I'm a part of the-"

"Teen Titans. In Jump City."

Cyborg nodded. He was the World's Greatest Detective after all. "I'm calling about Robin."

"Is something wrong?"

"We have a situation and we need your help."

"Report."

"A villain we faced, named Slade, used a laser on Robin. It turned him into a child. He was speaking Romanian, and even though we have two people in the tower who can speak it, it will be a challenge for us to hunt Slade down and get Robin back to normal while taking care of him, even without the language barrier. Can you help us?"

Batman stared at him for a minute. Then, "How old is he?"

"Maybe five, or six."

Despite the cowl, Cyborg knew that the caped crusader was raising a brow.

"He asked for you." Cyborg said. "He asked for his dad."

That seemed to make Batman relent. "I'm on my way."

"Thanks."

Batman nodded, and the screen went black.

The drive from Gotham City to Jump took a few hours. Batman spent the drive thinking, worrying.

Despite the bad blood between them as partners, Batman never stopped seeing Robin as his son. He feared for him right now. He was in such a vulnerable state. He couldn't be Robin at this age. And if Dick couldn't be Robin, Bruce could not be Batman beyond this initial meeting. Dick needed Bruce, not Batman, at this age. Even though he didn't know Dick at this age, he knew that little kids demanded a lot of work and attention. This created a slew of worries for him, though. How would Batman patrol at night, when Dick could potentially need him? Would Dick know Alfred, trust him enough to look after him if he was away? How much of this would Dick understand? And what would the side effects of all of this be?

He ticked worries off in his mind, like a never ending ticker tape that kept spewing out things to fear. But as he approached Jump, He decided to box those up for now. It was time to be a father to his son. It would be hard, to push away his stoic crime fighting persona, especially wearing his uniform, but he would do it. It was for Dick, and he would do anything for him.

He parked the Batmobile on the small island, and he got out. Being out in the daytime was different for him, for sure. But it didn't stop him from being stealthy as normal. He decided to come through the front door, instead of scaling the roof like he normally would.

When the knock came at the door, it was Cyborg who answered. He opened it, and the Dark Knight seemed to float in. It was a bit unnerving to him, but he wasn't necessarily surprised. He'd heard his share of Batman stories- and most of them were not from Robin.

"Robin?" The Dark Knight asked.

"This way." Cyborg said, and Batman followed. Cyborg took him to the medical bay, where Robin was up and quietly talking to Raven and Starfire. Beast Boy was hanging back, and was the first one to spy the bat. He ogled him, and wasn't subtle about it. He hadn't been subtle with his admiration toward Robin, and he certainly wouldn't be with his mentor. Batman noticed this, but didn't comment. He was too focused on his son.

Robin was in the middle of saying something to Robin, when he spied Batman. His face lit up in a smile, and he scrambled out of the bed, and ran to his father.

"tată…" He murmured, hugging him. He was tall as the Dark Knight's waist, but that did not deter him from the hug. Robin let out a sigh. "Tată."

The bat felt a smile creep onto his face.

When the hug was over, Batman knelt down to his pint-sized partner. "esti bine?"

Neither Beast Boy nor Cyborg needed to know Romanian to know that he was asking if Robin was okay.

Robin nodded with a smile, and though the untrained eye couldn't see it, Batman's posture relaxed.

"esti gata sa pleci acasa?" Batman asked him. Again, Robin nodded. Batman turned to the Titans.

"I'm going to take him home. Contact me if you need any help, or if you find the laser."

They all nodded, despite it being unsynchronized.

The bat nodded his thanks to them, and he swept Robin from the room and into the car.

When the duo had exited, the Titans looked at one another.

"What do we do now?" Asked Beast Boy.

"We find Slade. And we take him down." Cyborg answered for him.


	2. Internal Struggles

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the faves, follows, and review! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Have some Daddy Bats angst on me!**

The drive to Gotham City was long, and Batman was tired. Having very little sleep from last night's escape from Arkham courtesy of The Joker was bad enough, and this added stress was not helping. Despite his exhaustion, he was alert and aware as he'd ever been. Perhaps it was because Dick was in the car, perhaps it was because he was so young right now, or maybe it was paternal instinct, but he was very much aware. In that awareness, he noticed that the usually talkative young acrobat beside him was quiet. Much as Bruce wanted to get him talking, he thought it best to leave the child be. Waking up away from home in a strange place full of people he currently didn't know had to be traumatic for the boy.

Or maybe he was just tired.

Robin spent most of the time in the car staring out at the city speeding by him. It was so different from Gotham. So much brighter, so much happier. He did enjoy that part of his change of scenery, even if he was scared of where he had awoken. But the people he met had seemed nice. Friendly. But still, being away from home, and being away from his Daddy was not something he cared to experience again. His thoughts eventually trailed off, though. The dark tint of the Batmobile's windows made the car dark, with little room for any sunlight. The motion of the moving car, combined with his Daddy's comforting presence easily carried the young child to sleep.

When Batman looked over, he saw the child curled up on the seat, asleep and sucking a gloved thumb. He grimaced a little at the thought of what that might do to his teeth, but he shrugged it off. He remembered reading somewhere- possibly in a pediatrics waiting room- that thumb sucking often stopped around age five, with peer pressure. However, he also remembered that Dick hadn't gone to public school until he took him in at the age of nine. John and Mary Grayson had homeschooled their son until then. Bruce figured they must have broken the habit some other way, and he also doubted Dick realized what he was doing. How could he? The kid was asleep. But the sight of his sleeping son made Bruce smile- a rare sight in uniform. So he put the Batmobile on auto pilot for a minute, and removed his own cape before draping it over Dick like a blanket to keep him warm.

Eventually though, the dynamic duo made it back to Gotham and Bruce pulled into The Bat Cave. He was quick to get changed from his costume, remembering Alfred's rule of no costumes upstairs, but he had to leave Dick in his until they found him some clothes to suit his smaller body. He went back to the Batmobile, unbuckled Dick carefully, picked him up, and carried him upstairs. He passed Alfred on his way up the mahogany staircase, and the two men shared a look with one another. Bruce only paused a half a second before he moved on. He got to Dick's room, which was unchanged from the last time he slept there. He tucked the small child into bed and kissed his forehead before going to talk with Alfred.

The butler, who was certainly intuitive enough to be a full-fledged member of the Bat Family, was waiting for him in the living room, holding a cold drink. Bruce almost smiled, grateful, and took a sip of water with electrolytes in it before sitting down with a sigh.

"Is Young Master Dick well?" Asked the Brit.

"He's fine considering the circumstances."

"Then might I ask what's on your mind?"

Bruce was quiet for a minute. Then he sighed. "I don't know how to do this, Alfred."

""This", Sir?"

"I don't know how to take care of a kid this young. Dick was nine when he came to me, and he was so independent. He didn't require the time and constant attention that a five-year-old needs. I just… I don't know if I can meet his needs right now."

"Is it truly his needs you are concerned about, Master Bruce, or your own?"

Bruce looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Forgive my saying so sir, but though I understand you fear not being able to cater to the Young Master's emotional and attentive needs in this state, perhaps you are worried about something else."

"LIke?" He prompted.

"Perhaps you are worried about how Batman will handle Gotham with a young child to tend to. Moreover, perhaps he is worried that he shall not get the justice he so desires for that young child."

Bruce Blinked. "The Titans are-"

"That isn't the same as going after the man who did this to him yourself, now is it? Your need for revenge is driving you sir. Not just your need for justice."

And with that, Bruce knew Alfred was correct. He sighed again. "You're right. I want to make sure Dick gets the justice he deserves, and maybe I want to get revenge on the man who hurt my son, but… There are more important things to worry about at the moment."

The staunch butler nodded. "Quite right, sir. You would do well to keep that in mind."

Bruce finished off the water, then handed the glass to Alfred with a smile. "Thanks, Alfred."

"My pleasure."

With that, Bruce went back to Dick's room, keeping vigil over the boy until he woke up. That time was about two hours later. In that time span, Alfred had brought Dick some new clothes, and Bruce had eaten something during the wait. Dick stirred and yawned, blinking open masked eyes with a smile. His grin widened when he saw Bruce, and when the man came over to him he crawled into his lap and gave him a hug.

"Da-dee."

Bruce smiled. At this age, Dick only knew how to speak a little English, and quite a bit of the time he butchered what he was attempting to say, but the fact that he tried was enough. He only knew a few words and could occasionally string together a horrible sentence, but that was enough. However, though Bruce knew he could only speak a little english, he knew for a fact that Dick understood much more. So when he spoke to him in English, he knew that for the most part he would be understood.

"Hey there, Dickie Bird. Did you sleep well?"

Dick nodded.

Bruce smiled, then patted the small stack of clothes for him.

"Mine?" Dick asked. That word itself did not get lost in translation.

Bruce nodded, and Dick smiled, before starting to take off his mask, shoes, and gloves. Bruce helped him with his tunic and pants, and then got him into his new clothes. A Shirt and some brown pants. When he was dressed, Dick smiled, and Bruce did too. The kid's joy and optimism was still infectious, and he enjoyed that.

"Hungry?" Bruce asked.

Dick nodded, and the two went off to get something to eat.


End file.
